“Hey, have you heard of metanoia?” Ephron asked Elliott, without looking up from his phone. It was evening, they were both at a restaurant having dinner after finishing their runs for the day.

  “Who hasn't?” Elliott replied with an eyeroll between mouthfuls. Elliott always ate in a rush, he was also always hungry. Growing up in an orphanage left him with a variety of habits, both good and bad. He lived alone now and had to hustle.

  Ephron didn't mind, he was used to it. He liked how free Elliott was , especially around him. “Ever considered playing?” Ephron asked, looking up at Elliott.

  Elliott paused, his hand, his mouth, his entire being, he stared at Ephron. “You want to play?” he asked after swallowing what was in his mouth. He placed his fork down, giving Ephron his full attention.

  “I never said that.” Ephron shrugged it off. He went back to focusing on his phone, avoiding Elliott’s burning gaze.

  “Come on, Ron, you are way too cautious to be interested in something you don't care about.” Elliott rolled his eyes, “The fact that you mentioned it means you've considered it.”

  “I haven't.” Ephron replied, ‘I'm still considering.’ He added inwardly as he ate.

  “You should try it… if you want.” Elliott urged. Ephron rarely showed interest in things, at least not willingly. Most times, he just stared and considered, then forgot about it. He was too cautious, what he was cautious of was a mystery to Elliott. “I’ve considered it a few times too, I heard people make money from it, and I know it's not easy and I'll have to give it my all, and it might not even be enough. Apparently, it could be even harder for people there. But, it's too big of a gamble for me.”

  Ephron nodded, he could understand where Elliott was coming from. They were supposedly similar situations, but he knew that he's had it more than a little better than Elliott.

  “If you want, you can try, but one of us has to remain behind, in case it doesn't go well and you need my help. Sort of like a backup plan.” Elliott smiled, his large eyes glowing behind dorky glasses, “We can't cast all our baskets in one egg.”

  Ephron snorted, almost spilling his dish.

  “Wow, almost got you to laugh.” Elliott beamed, he seemed extra proud.

  “It's the other way around.” Ephron muttered,

  “I know.”

  …

  Ephron parked and chained his moped, confirmed that it was properly locked before heading up the building to his apartment.

  ‘I really need a shower.’ he thought as he walked into the lift. The ride was slow, but soon, he was on the eighteenth floor. He could see the city clearly from his balcony, still light up and bustling even though it was a few minutes past ten. The city came alive the most at night, something that made it more beautiful but at the same time, a bit disturbing.

  Ephron arrived by the door, pulled out his keys and slid the key card attached to the panda key holder. His brows furrowed as he swiped again but there was nothing. No beep sound. He frowned, reaching out to slightly push the door,

  ‘It’s open…’

  Ephron's eyes widened a bit and he gulped audibly. His hand trembled as he brought out his phone, tapped in the emergency number, ready to hit the call button. He slowly pushed the door open, walking in. There was no sign of anyone, but it was dark. He reached for the light switch with his free hand.

  Click~

  Light flooded the room, since the apartment wasn't large to begin with, the single light from the living room space illuminated everywhere, but even if it didn't, there wouldn't have been a need to, after all, the culprit, or culprits were right in front of him.

  All dressed in black and white tuxedos, with just one odd figure standing out. Unlike the others, he was dressed casually; hoodie, sweatpants and sneakers, but what stood out the most, even more than his raven black hair, were the purple eyes. A pair that only appeared in one bloodline throughout the country.

  “It's been a while, little brother.”

  Memories flooded Ephron's mind as he stared at his elder brother, Joram. It has been a long time since they've spoken even while they lived under the same roof. Ephron was too busy trying to please their father, and his siblings were busy with god knows what.

  “I see you are doing well.” Joram said, the mocking smile on his face was all the sarcasm Ephron needed to know he didn't mean a word he said.

  “What do you want?” Ephron asked, he didn't even notice the slight trembling in his voice. He was unsure how to react to this sibling of his, there was no particular bad blood between them, the same went for his other siblings, but he knew they looked down on him, because of his mother.

  “Father calls for you.”

  Ephron's hand twitched, it was subtle, but Joram noticed it. He chuckled, taking pleasure in watching the Ephron struggle internally. The subtle change in his facial expression, the dilutions of his pupils, it was obvious, Ephron was compelled to go, it was taking all of him not to pack up his bags and leave at that moment, and Joram was liking it.

  “You haven't changed a bit, little brother.” Joram laughed, running a hand through his glossy hair. He looked nothing like Ephron, none of them did. Sure they all had raven black hair and purple eyes, but the rest of the siblings took to their father's features; tall, athletic, Ephron was none of that. He had his mother's features, skinny, pale, soft.

  “There'll be a family meeting in ten days, and it's supposed to be a serious discussion that will determine the future of our family.” Joram explained. “Grandpa will be there.” He added after a pause, there was a slight tremble in his voice at the mention of their grandfather.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  ‘Grandpa…’ Ephron muttered inwardly. The renowned tycoon, a titan in the business industry and the current head of the Aspari family. Ephron has met him just once, he could never forget that day. Very few people knew how it felt to stand before him, very few people wished to, not even his own children.

  “That's all father wants me to tell you, but I'll add something of my own.” Joram stood from his seat, hands in pocket. He closed the distance between him and Ephron, looming over the other, his smile gone.

  “Don't come.” Joram began, “We already went through your mother, we don't need to go through you too. You were never one of us, and that was before you disgraced us by running from home.” His words were venomous and he made no effort to hide his disdain for Ephron.

  “Disgraced you?” Ephron asked, baffled. He went through an emotional breakdown, he left for his sanity. ‘I had to leave, it's not like I was ever wanted there.” He didn't back down.

  “It's a good thing you did, you should never come back. It's for your own good.” Joram maintained eye contact for a while to make sure his words sank, then he walked past, slamming Ephron out of his way. “See you later, little brother.” He placed emphasis on ‘little brother’, chuckling as he left the room, the men in suits following behind him.

  Ephron's entire body trembled, he quaked like a volcano about to erupt, but that was all. No matter how much he raged and boiled, he couldn't let it out. He never erupted. Ephron took deep breaths, dropped his stuff on the table, showered and went to bed.

  …

  “Ephron… Ephron!” Ephron looked up from his phone, Elliott was staring at him.

  “What's wrong? You've been out of it throughout today.” It was lunch break and they were on their way to lunch.

  “Nothing.” Ephron replied curtly, but Elliott knew it wasn't nothing.

  “There's obviously something. You've been staring at your phone all day, which is highly unusual, and you are quieter than usual, which is like… total silence. One lady even asked if you were mute.”

  “It's nothing.” Ephron replied again, not giving more than the two word answer. Elliott didn't let up,

  “I won our delivery contest, and I'm not dumb enough to think I was fast or nearly as efficient as you usually are.” Elliott stared at Ephron, glaring almost to let him know he wasn't about to let this go, but Ephron avoided eye contact.

  “Hey,” Ephron felt a hand on his shoulder, prompting him to look up, “I know you have a lot going on, even though you pretend like everything is fine.” Elliott spoke softly, “I'm not judging, but I want you to know that I'm here if you want to talk.”

  Ephron gave a small smile, Elliott knew how to act like the responsible big brother when needed, ‘one of the good habits I learnt at the orphanage’ he would say.

  Recalling the word ‘big brother’ brought up memories from last night, Ephron's eyes dulled a bit. He glanced back at his phone, on it were the words “Metanoia Online; lose yourself, find what's left.”

  “What is your dream? Ephron asked, you never talk about it. I know you didn't always want to become a courier.”

  “I wanted to study arts in school,” Elliott replied.

  “You can draw?” Ephron asked, slightly surprised.

  “Not sure if I still can. Heh, I learnt a while ago that dreams are for those who can afford to dream.” Elliott has a neutral expression, but Ephron could tell he was sad, heartbroken even. He understood him, just a tiny bit, unlike Elliott, he never had a dream, his dream used to be to become whatever he father wanted most.

  “Let's do it.” Ephron said suddenly, a firm resolve in his gaze.

  “Huh?”

  “Let's play metanoia online. Let's give it a go...together.”

  “We can't.” Elliott sighed, “We both need this job, I don't think it's safe to gamble on it all. One of us should at least stay behind.”

  “Eli, do you trust me?” Elliott looked at Ephron, this was the first time he asked something like this, making the impact even harder, but there was also a desperate look in his eyes, he didn't even look like he trusted himself.

  “Of course.” Elliott beamed. There was a look of relief in Ephron's eyes, along with a brightening that made it seem like he was smiling without his lips.

  “Let's go, I'll treat you to lunch.” Ephron urged.

  “You have no choice, did you forget that you lost the contest?” Elliott smirked.

  ‘Even if I can't dream, I can at least try to give you a chance to.’ Unknown to Ephron, he had just made a crucial decision, one that would go on to affect two worlds.

  …

  “Remind me what we are doing here again?” Elliott questioned as he and Ephron walked into the mall. Ephron rolled his eyes, that was the fifth time Elliott was asking him.

  “That's the fifth time.” he voiced.

  “I wouldn't have to ask so many of you just tell me what we came here to do.”

  “Fox-boy works here, there's little information on metanoia even with how popular it is, we need someone who knows more, especially how to get consoles. Does that summarize it for you?” Ephron already told Elliott about his encounter with Shōji.

  “Maybe…” Elliott pouted. He didn't like that they were meeting a stranger, he felt that Ephron was a little too trusting.

  “It should have been when I told you the last three times.” Ephron rolled his eyes, he knew Elliott was just throwing a tantrum. He spent the entire day researching Metanoia, but surprisingly, even with how popular the game was, there was little accessible information.

  Apparently, they kept a lot of information hidden and only players that had passed a phase known as ‘The Calibration’ could get them. If you weren't a player yet, all you needed to know was that the console was safe and it was a game unlike none before.

  “Hey,” Ephron greeted as he walked up to the counter, ‘thankfully he's on shift.’ Ephron wasn't sure when to come so he mirrored the delivery time. His guess paid off.

  Shōji looked up from the counter, although his expression didn't change, there was a gleam in his eyes when he saw Ephron approaching that showed he was glad he returned. “Hey,” he greeted back, walking out from behind the counter.

  “Shōji, this is Elliott. Elliott, Shōji.” Ephron introduced. Elliott and Shōji gave each other a slight nod, the former glancing around, scrutinizing the boy before him as well as his environment.

  “We've decided to give Metanoia a go, but information on it is scarce and we don't even know how to get consoles. I figured you could help.” Ephron explained.

  “Oh, that's nice.” Shōji beamed. Can you wait? My shift ends at about fifteen minutes.”

  “Sure.” Ephron shrugged.

  “Okay, cool. Once my switch arrives, I'll take you to where you can get consoles. Hope you have enough cash? It's quite expensive.” Shōji returned behind the counter to attend to a customer. “Oh, and how do you intend to transport them? They can be delivered to your address though.”

  “How big is it? We have mopeds, can't we transport them ourselves?” Elliott asked. Shōji snorted as he looked up.

  ”Are you serious?”

  “What? Why? We used them to make deliveries, the storage boxes are pretty big.” Elliott explained.

  “You've never seen a Metanoia console huh, don't worry, I'll show you why when we get there.” Shōji chuckled mischievously.